Work pertaining to the generation and role of proteoglycans and mucopolysaccharides in connective tissue is in progress. Methods of studying glycosaminoglycans have been developed including optical mixing spectroscopy, acridine orange complexes and conformational analysis. Aggregates of glycosaminoglycans with polypeptides have been studied. This work will be extended to interactions and aggregates with collagen. The nature of the linkage between link and core patients and hyaluronic acid in proteoglycan complexes is to be studied by various spectroscopic methods. The process of collagen assembly in polysaccharide gels is to be studied by electron microscopy and some aspects of using collagen and glycosaminoglycans as drug carrier molecules are under study. BIBLIOGRAPHIC REFERENCES: K. P. Schodt and J. Blackwell, "Comparison of Four Proteoglycans in Terms of Their Interactions with Poly(L-arginine), Biopolymers, 15, 469-485 (1976). R. A. Gelman, J. Blackwell, N.A. Kefalides and E. A. Tomichek, "Thermal Stability of Basement Membrane Collagen", Biochim. Biophys. Acta, 427, 492-496 (1976).